The present invention relates to a DNA pattern reading apparatus and, more particularly, to a DNA pattern reading apparatus capable of subjecting a DNA fragment labelled with a radioactive isotope, a fluorescent substance or the like to electrophoresis, reading a resulting DNA pattern image as a result of electrophoresis, and automatically determining a base sequence of a gene, in which the resulting DNA pattern image is read and stored, and the stored DNA pattern image is processed, thereby permitting an accurate reading of the DNA pattern.
Heretofore, a device for determining a DNA base sequence of a gene from a DNA pattern image as a result of electrophoresis of a DNA fragment labelled with a radioactive isotope, a fluorescent substance or the like merely displays on a printer or on a display screen the base sequence determined by reading the DNA pattern by symbols A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and T (thymine). This device is such that, if there is an error in a read result, such an error is corrected, for instance, as shown in FIG. 22, by tracing silhouettes of a band 20e of an image of bases on a DNA film as a read object, as indicated on each of base lanes 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d, by the radioactive isotope or the like, in the direction opposite to the direction of electrophoresis and editing a DNA sequence 22.
In other words, in a DNA pattern reading device for reading the DNA film on which the DNA pattern image resulting from electrophoresis is recorded, as shown in FIG. 23, the DNA pattern reading device 21 reads the DNA film, determines its base sequence, and outputs the DNA sequence 22 as a file, and its content is merely displayed as a text on a printer 23 or on a display screen 24.
Accordingly, the DNA pattern reading device 21 suffers the disadvantage that an analyst of a base sequence should follow again the DNA pattern image of the DNA film 20 upon editing and correct an omission from the DNA sequence 22 judged or an error therein. Although a large portion of the DNA pattern reading device 21 is automatically operable, a correction of an omission or an unreadable portion of the electrophoresis pattern requires laborious work like in the case where the DNA sequence 22 is manually inputted and analyzed.